Red Bull Ford Powertrains has been confirmed as the benchmark V6 combustion engine manufacturer in Formula 1, following Lewis Hamilton’s Monaco Grand Prix revelation.
The FIA measured the performance of all V6 combustion engines after the Canadian Grand Prix to determine the leading power unit and the deficits of all competitors.
Under the ADUO system, for every 2% of V6 performance deficit, manufacturers receive additional homologation tokens to work on their engines outside standard regulatory windows.
These tokens include additional dyno hours and cost cap allowance, giving struggling manufacturers a genuine pathway to close performance gaps to the benchmark.
An official FIA announcement is expected as early as Monday, with regulations requiring the governing body to publish its findings 14 days after the Canadian Grand Prix.
Hamilton inadvertently revealed the order during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, confirming Red Bull Ford Powertrains leads, followed by Mercedes and then Ferrari in third.
Mercedes has been confirmed to have a deficit exceeding 2%, qualifying the manufacturer for one homologation token under the ADUO regulations.
Ferrari is expected to receive two tokens, indicating the Scuderia sits more than 4% behind Red Bull Ford Powertrains in the engine performance rankings.
Audi and Honda are believed to be even further behind the benchmark, though the precise level of assistance they will receive remains unclear.
Hamilton was careful to temper expectations, stressing that receiving tokens does not automatically translate into rapid on-track engine performance improvements.
“I think the news came out either yesterday or today that Red Bull have the most powerful engine, Mercedes second, and then we’re behind,” Hamilton told Sky Sports F1.
“So, we’ve now got these tokens to try and develop and close the gap. But that’s like an eight-to-10-month project, so it’s not something we can just do next week.”
“We’ll be pushing as hard as we can to see how we can close it out,” Hamilton added, acknowledging the lengthy timeline involved in meaningful power unit development.
The ADUO system was originally designed to prevent a repeat of Honda’s difficult 2017 situation, where one manufacturer fell significantly behind all competitors in engine performance.
However, the sliding scale of upgrade opportunities quickly turned the system into a political battleground among manufacturers seeking competitive advantages.